Beverage



Patented Aug. 26, 1924.,

rsoasn PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK RETTGER AND HARRY ASHER CHEPLIDL. OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

BEVERAGE.

Ito Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LEO l Rnrrena and HARRY A. CHEPLIN, both citizens of the United States, residing at New Haven, 5 county of New Haven, State of Connecticut,

have invented certain new and useful limprovements in Beverages; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in sour milk. products and methods of producing them. It also includes improved cultures for use in making such sour milk products. I

Much time and eilort have been given in recent years to the production of sour milk and sour milk products, and milk soured 2a with Bacillus lulgaricua powders or tablets and special preparations have gained wide usage. These preparations are of undoubted merit. They are a valuable food and serve as a substitute for ordinary milk for which many. persons have little or no tolerance and which to many others is objectionable as such. Furthermore, these sour milk products,when they have been prepared successfully, are beverages which have attainedconsiderable popularity.

The improved sour milk product of the present invention bears some resemblances to sour milk prepared with ,pure cultures of Bacillus lulga/riaus or with lulgaricus powders or tablets; but the new sour milk product is distinguished from such lulgaricus sour milk products in important respects. The new sour milk product never attains a degree of acidity in old culture which is attained by the hulya ricus milk. There is little or no danger of the new;milk product beeomingtoo sour if the time of incubation is within reasonable range, which cannot be said of the bulgariaus product; The new milk product acquires a creamy but never a sticky or stringing, consistency, while the bulgaricus milk has a thicker and at times a more or less slimy character. The new milk product has a decidedly perceptible aroma and taste which add very materially to its palatability and which are more or less absent from the lulgarioua milk.

The new sour milk product of the present invention is a s ecia ly prepared product,

prepared with acillua amdophilus. Tn.

Application filed December 17, 1921. Eerial No. 523,021.-

making the new milk product, strains of Bacillus aoidophilus are used which, by a long process of development and of acclimatization have acqmred the power of developing'rapidly in milk, and bringing 60 about coagulation of the casein within a, relatively short period of time, e. g., 24 hours.

Bacillus acidophihis is one of the two bacilli forming thechief inhabitants of the intestines of infants that subsist entirely on mothers milk. As the diet. of the infant is changed and made more complex, the predominating intestinal flora of the breast-fed host. Bacillus acirlaphilus, in so far ascan be determined, is harmless, is neither putrefactive nor lermentative, and does not produce disagreeable odors and taste when grown in ordinary media in pure culture.

Bacillus acitlophilus is similar in appearance to Bacillus lulgaricuc. There are, however, certain important distinctions. Bacillus acirlophilus produces relatively little acid in milk, seldom attaining more than 1%, even after continued incubation; whereas Bacillus lulgaricus at times produces as much as 3%. Furthermore, Bacillus acirlophilus attacks maltose with acid formation, while Bacillus Bul aria us has no action on this sugar. A diflrence which is particularly important, from the practical standpoint, is the inability of the lulgaricus organism to live and multiply in the intestine of man and amrnals, whereas Bacillus aciolophilus can and does undergo rapid develo ment in the intestine of man, when admmistered, for example, by mouth in relatively large numbers, together with suitable nutriment. It has been claimed that the feeding of cultures of Bacillus b'ulgaricus in the form of sour milk or in tablets or owders brings about a change in the intestinal population in which the bulgaricau bacillus supplants the useless and. harmful intestinal bacteria, but this view is no longer tenable.

The implantation and proliferation of the Bacillus aciclcphilus in the intestine can be brought about by administering whey-broth cultures of the organism daily: and the amount of whey-broth culture required can lltl be greatly reduced if along with the culture there is given daily a suitable amount of lactose or dextrin.

The present invention provides an improved form of the Bacillus ccirluphi us in the form of aciclophilus milk culture which We will, for convenience, hereinafter refer to as acitlophilus milk.

The Bacillus acidophilus, in the form in which it is isolated, for example from the dejecta of persons in whom it has been established by lactose feeding, is unsuitable for the preparation of a satisfactory'sour milk product; but we have found that the organism so isolated can be developed, by growing it for many generations and for long periods of time, until it becomes acclimated or accustomed to milk as its medium, to such an extent that the improved culture thus produced can be successfully used in the preparation of a satisfactory milk product. The preparation of the improved strains of the -l acilluc may thus be brought about, after complete isolation and identification of the organism in pure culture, by cultivation in milk until they become adapted to milk as a culture medium; and it is important that the bacillus should be isolated in the form of pure strains and trained so that they will develop and bring about coagulation of casein rapidly in milk. The

training and acclimating should be carried to such an extent that, after the usual transfer to sterile milk, the latter becomes sufii- -c iently acidified to undergo coagulation of the casein, for example, within 24 hours. In producing the improved strains, the recently'isolated strains, which are slow and inefi'ective in milk, may thus be grown in milk for suitable periods of time, for example of two or three weeks or more, and with transplanting from milk to milk at frequent intervals, preferably every day,

until the proper degree of coagulative activity is acquired.

The preparation ofthe improved sour milk product, after the improved strains of the bacillus-have been produced, will be illustrated by the following specific example:

Fresh skimmed cows milk is sterilized in one heating in an autoclave at 115 (3., the time required for complete sterilizing varying with the volume of the milk and the nature of the container. 5 Quart lots in ordinary glass flasks can be, sterilized in about 22 to 24 minutes. Properly heated and sterilized milk should have a dark, creamy color but should not be distinctly brown. The milk is cooled to at least 40 C. or somewhat strains of Bacillus acizlophilus, preferably using mixed strains, which have been grown in the manner above described so that they will develop rapidly in milk and bring about coagulation of the casein within about 24 hours at an incubation temperature of around 30 to 34 C. The inoculum should be a viable'milk culture of the organism, and at'least 5 to 10 cubic centimeters of the inoculum should ordinarily be used for each liter of milk treated. After thorough mixin of the newly inoculated milk it is incu ated for the period above mentioned.

.At the completion of the incubation period, the casein appears as a soft curd, with a thin layer of clear or almost clear whey over the surface. On shaking, the casein falls to pieces and the milk takes on :1 smooth consistency which resembles that of thick cream. At this stage, the milk is, in effect, practically indistinguishable in color and consistency from a high test cream.

The acidity of the acidophilus milk is never high, and seldom reaches more than 1%, even after long standing, forexample,

I and tastes. Ordinary milk souring bacteria impart characteristic sour milk properties to the product, whereas the usual proteolitic bacteria of the putrefactive type produce odors which are at once detected as characteristic of this type. i

It is accordingly important, in producing a satisfactory sour milk product, that pure strains of Bacillus acidophilus be used which have become acclimated to milk an which develop rapidly therein, and that the preparation of the 'sour milk product with such improved strains should be carried out under conditions which prevent objectionable contamination of the product. The milk use, therefore, should be sterilized and protected from subse uent bacterial contamination, both imme iately preceding and during the process of incubation, if a pure and uniform product is to be obtained. F 1 12? lowing the incubation, the acidity is such as to offer some, thoughlnot complete, protec' tion against the deleterious actlon of foreign bacteria.

In order to insure that the improved strains of the bacillus are maintained pure and of the desired strength in transformin power, it isdesirable to cultivate severa strains of the organism isolated at different times, so that, if one strain becomes con- 13 reoasor should be kept pure and in a strong and active condition, and that the milk used in making the new sour milk product should likewise be protected from objectionable contamination. The purity and viability of the product is particularly important where the acirlcphilus milk is to be used for therapeutic purposes.

The new sour milk product of the present invention has been found particularly valuable for use in bringing about an implantation and proliferation of the Bacillus acidop'hilus in the human intestine. The milk cultures of the new product possess a very marked and almost immediate transforming power on the intestinal bacteria when the aciclcp-lzilus milk is administered. Abundant proliferation of Bacillus aciclc .phil/us has been obtained after taking the acitlopfixihts milk daily from 4: to 6 days, and its complete predominationv over other intestinal organisms has been maintained over prolonged periods of time, so long as the acialop-lzilus milk consumption was continued. The new milk product has also been found of value in the treatment of difi'erent kinds of disturbances and ailments having their apparent origin in impairment of the digestive tract.

The new milk product may be used as a beverage oras a food and is both palatable and wholesome. It may be used alone or it may be compounded with other ingredients in making beverages, etc. Beverages may thus be prepared which contain acizlophilw milk as the chief ingredient, or as one of the chief ingredients. Beverages mu be prepared, for example, by the addition of flavored syrups to the acizlophilus milk with or without the addition of Vichy. Such drinks, when properly prepared, are pleas ing to the taste and compare favorably in this respect with many of the 'wellknown popular beverages. the acidity of the flavors used'is too great,

In developing and cultivating the im- Furthermore, unless and the flavors are employed in large amounts, the therapeutic property of the acirlcphilus milk'does not appear to be in any way impairel. @ther products may similarly be produced, for example, yeastvitamine cciiicphilac milk.

The acitlcplzilus milk may be reinforced with lactose, for example, by adding the sugar at the time the milk is taken. The lactose and acidcpliilils milk may be well shaken and the mixture allowed to stand, for example, for minutes or more in a cool place, to promote the dissolving of the sugar. The addition of the lactose adds greatly to the richness of the milk.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an improved sour milk, prodnot of special value, not only as a food and beverage, but also for therapeutic purposes. It will further be seen that the invention includes also, new and improved strains of the Bacillus acidophilus which have the im portant property of developing rapidly in milk and bringing about coagulation of casein therein within a relatively short time, c. -g., within 24: hours. The invention further includes improvements in the production of the improved strains of the bacillus and in the production of the new milk product lit) ,1. A sour milk product containing Bacil- I lac acillcpkilus. 2. As a new'product, acidopltilus milk, of cream like consistency.

3. Themethod of producing a sour milk product which comprises inoculating 1 milk with strains of "Bacillus acidcphilus which develop rapidly therein, and permitting such strains to develop until coagulation of casein takes place. i

l. The method of producing a sour milk product Which comprises inoculating milk with strains of Bacillus acialcpkilws which develop rapidly in milk, incubating the milk until coagulatlon of casein takes place and agitating the product to give it a cream like consistency.

In testimony whereof we ailix our signatures.

till 

